


Unwrapped

by Draught



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Battle sleep, C-Sec, Explicit Language, F/M, Main character tries to be a good cop, Post Destroy ending chaos, Post-Mass Effect 3, more characters and tags to be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-10-28 16:59:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10835490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draught/pseuds/Draught
Summary: It's been two months since the Crucible fired and the Citadel is still picking up the pieces. Though the loss is great and much is uncertain, life and some semblance of order must go on.C-Sec Special Response spearheads the relief and rebuilding efforts. One particular officer of rank juggles the limit of what she's able to handle.This story takes place post Destroy ending caused by a Renegade Shepard. There are many original characters, and also some visits from ones we know. The main character is named and events are written from her perspective, third person. Her appearance is intentionally vague and left up to the reader.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in the Milky Way, and doesn't touch Andromeda at any point in time. That being said, Mass Effect Andromeda influences this story, particularly Liam Kosta’s backstory, so that's the reason it's been added to the tags.
> 
> I don't have a proofreader. If any spelling or grammatical errors are caught while reading and left in comments, I'll be sure to edit and give my thanks.
> 
> I've played the games, but this story is intricate. I've been making good use of the Wiki. I may have had to bend some details due to limited information or to make them fit my story, but overall things should be pretty accurate. Leave me questions if they arise, I'll answer!

“Lieutenant Flotus. Commander Bailey,” Sergeant Madeline River greeted as she walked into the meeting room she'd been reporting to week after week. The room, like most of C-Sec on the Zakera Ward, was more or less intact. The same couldn't be said for large portions of the Citadel. Everyone's collective efforts had made strides over the last two months, but the damage the Crucible had caused had been devastating.

Sergeant River gave a nod to three other occupants in the room. She was surprised to see two hanar and a drell. Irregular, she thought. River had seen plenty of hanar over the years, but only one or two drell in passing. She knew they were reptilian, rare and close to the hanar. She didn't know they came in yellow gold and violet gradients as this one did. He was vivid. The drell stared in her direction, but being as far as he was and having as large black eyes as he did, it was hard to say for certain.

She also noticed that none of the other Sergeants were present, either in person or through holos. She hadn't thought much to the time of her summons, but she was indeed here a half hour before usual.

This obviously wasn't an ordinary briefing. “What can I help with?” She asked without hesitation, giving her attention back to her turian Lieutenant.

One of Flotus’ mandibles twitched in what she'd come to learn as a pull of a smirk or smile before settling back on his stern gray face. “We'll get to that soon,” he said. She often got the feeling he found her eagerness amusing. He lifted a datapad and began scrolling through it. “Commander Bailey and I have been discussing your report after the incident at 633 Block.”

River clasped her hands behind her back and forced her gaze steady on the two men.

“I had reservations about assigning a krogan, but he proved to be capable,” Commander Bailey spoke. He sounded regretful “I didn't expect things to turn out this way.”

Neither did she.

Jorgal Qarak hadn't been C-Sec, but he had been a hand they needed. He was strong, a decent biotic, and took orders better than expected for a krogan. The Citadel used all the help it could get if the help was willing to bend to its rules, and he had been, surprisingly enough. Being a biotic was especially sought after. River could get pretty far with the use of her omnitool, but in the time it took her to find alternate power sources to bring broken off balanced doors back online, a couple of skilled biotics could force open an entrance and break through a debilitated wall directly behind it. And that sort of scenario happened often.

Sergeant River lead a Special Response team. They were prepared to deal with anything from resulting explosions due to damage and degradation to hostiles, whether they be gangs or insurgents taking advantage of the chaos. The need was great and they were capable, so they had a variety of secondary tasks to keep them busy. They provided aid when needed, though as the weeks rolled by they recovered or tagged more bodies than anything else. They scouted structures meant for demolition or repair to help ensure safer working conditions for construction teams. Her squad was even approved to leave the Citadel temporarily under certain circumstances due to her team's varying qualifications and the fact that she served as a Patrol officer up until the Crucible fired. The ship she served on hadn't survived, but her team had been designated their own and she would be in charge. There was no Captain available to stand by. Everyone was being pulled in every direction.

“We're aware conditions are far from ideal and that each of you are expected to have a degree of autonomy to be able to perform,” Lieutenant Flotus said after looking up from his datapad, “But we need assurance that you're doing everything in your power to keep incidents like this from happening.” His eyes flickered back to the datapad. “You didn't witness Qarak’s death?”

It wasn't a proper question. Flotus most likely had her report and her explanation right there between his talons. “I was in the control room, two doors down. Live wires were scattered in rooms and halls. Machinery, including the HabCapsules, malfunctioned in unpredictable ways and the foundation shook as we bypassed each door. Jorgal Qarak and Officers T’Loret and Wakelam focused on the support pillars to keep the building from collapsing on us, while Officers Tubernios and Regis scouted for primary components. I was attempting to shut down power from multiple sources, I…wasn't fast enough.”

According to her teammates that witnessed the accident, it had happened quickly. Jorgal had been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Citadel had always been a hub for travel, and those who couldn't afford to spend the night in towers made use of 633 Block. It was the closest thing to a hostel to be found, River reckoned. The HabCapsules, that were slept in, were made sturdy in order for them to survive the pressure of being stacked upon one another. The covers were no more than a few inches thick, but reinforced. They also slid from the bottom out, not up from either side, and even when they were functional, you didn't want to being standing at the tail end when one opened. The force was great enough to break a knee or crack a rib, all in the name of quick efficiency. Accidents rarely happened however, it wasn't as if workers and technicians let people loiter around those areas.

Unfortunately, any workers or customers inside 633 Block by the time River's team made it there were strewn about electrocuted bodies, or those unfortunate to have been stuck inside a HabCapsule when the Reapers attacked. The majority of the HabCapsules were still sealed, but many were malfunctioning with covers sliding back and forth quickly in jerky movements, and a few of them had shot their covers off with enough force that the team entered 633 Block to find those pieces lodged into walls.

During the time River was absorbed in the control room, one of those HabCapsules had shot its cover at Jorgal Qarak. Normally, it would have been enough for a krogen to handle. Their species was notoriously hard to kill and Jorgal had lived a hard mercenary life for years before the turn of events that led him to River's squad. The problem was that the edge of the cover hit him above the eyes, right below his head plate, and lodged itself half way into his skull. It was a freak accident that resulted in an instant death.

“You feel there was nothing you could have done differently?” Flotus asked.

“Jorgal, T’Loret, and Wakelam were and are good biotics. They worked well together. But even the best can only endure the stress for so long and Wakelam is an L2. I'm not going to risk her hemorrhaging. 633 Block was a death trap, at the limit of what I would expect given the system’s parameters. It might have changed things if there had been more of us with Jorgal, but I made the decision to get us in and out as quickly as possible. I trust them to be careful. I still believe it was the right course of action.”

“We respect your decision,” Commander Bailey told her, “But we can't afford any of our Special Response teams to be short and the wide range of work the SSRteam has accomplished and has the potential to accomplish means what happened isn't something we can ignore. The good news is, there's help.”

“Yes. This one also agrees with the human’s reasoning,” one of the hanars spoke.

“Sergeant, this is Diplomat Amirylas,” Bailey informed, “The hanar have spared us a sizable construction team, and have volunteered the service of Lieutenant Commander Molak Tuan of the hanar Navy.” The drell inclined his head towards her.

River felt herself swallow. “Lieutenant Commander…” She was a Sergeant. The connotations were clear, even if he didn't serve the Citadel directly.

“The goal is to have Lieutenant Commander Tuan lead a team similar to Special Response. Serving on yours will be a probationary period, and a chance to experience the degree of flexibility needed during these times,” Lieutenant Flotus cut in and River tried her best not to look too surprised, “Given your explementary history with the Alliance, your…colorful record of service-short as it may be-with C-Sec, and the nature of the work you are already performing, SSRteam is an acceptable fit.”

“I've been briefed on the nature of this operation,” Lieutenant Commander Tuan finally spoke. River picked up a dual flang, a deep tone similar to turian voices. He blinked and she realized it was in succession, two pairs of eyelids. “I guarantee the difference in our ranks will be a non-issue. You may refer to me by name as to not upset the power of balance amongst your team. I am prepared to follow your command.”

She nodded. “Understood,” she said. She wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, nor was she in a position to. If her commanding officers were to eventually decide she wasn't fit to lead there was a death on her shoulders to choke back any protest. But since they hadn't, she would continue to perform to the best of her ability. 

The three guests were temporarily excused soon after as the Lieutenant and Commander prepared for the standard briefing.

“5 minutes,” Commander Bailey murmured, breaking the silence and River's thoughts. He looked at her with a bit of a smirk. “You haven't even moved from that spot. C’mon, shake it off. This isn't the military and you know it. You and every person on your team stretch beyond your ranks already. You all were chosen to, and that's why you had to get up earlier than the rest of the Sergeants about to join you.”

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. It came out as a huff. “You almost make it sound fun,” she said. Special Special Response, he used to joke, before she chose it as a team name to make him stop. The decision had both amused and annoyed Lieutenant Flotus, but she got the feeling those emotions went hand in hand with his personality. She couldn't imagine what it'd be like to have a stick so far up her ass that she couldn't experience humor without getting mad at it. The one she had was far up enough already.

“Anyway, you're all set, Lieutenant,” Bailey said.

“Thank you, Commander,” the turian responded.

It looked like she'd be the only one in person this time around, she thought to herself as Bailey left and holos belonging to the four other Special Response Sergeants stationed on Zakera Ward flickered to life behind her.

Another forty five minutes later and she left the meeting room to find the Lieuten- _Tuan_ waiting for her alone. He stood as she approached him.

“I'm sure you've heard this from a few diplomats, most of my commanding officers, and maybe even a Councillor, but thank you for being here,” she said while extending a hand.

He stared at the outstretched hand a few moments more than comfortable, but grabbed it and shook it before she could jump into an awkward explanation. He let go quickly and clasped his hands behind his back.

“I'm here because of my orders,” he said with no obvious inflection.

She nodded. “Still, what has happened here and what we are doing isn't something to be taken lightly. You're helping and that's appreciated, even if you only see it as duty,” she said, then changed the subject, “Go ahead and give me your address so I can send you messages. Were you sent with rations or do we need to provide? Do you need requisitions? Were you given anything the team can utilize?”

“I have what I need,” he said and brought up his omnitool, “I'll forward you my dossier.” That was all he had to say on the matter. Short, but he was allowed to be.

Normally, River would send the weekly briefing to her teammates through messages, but this unforeseen circumstance called for a team meeting in person. Along with the request, she sent them the weekly numbers. Statistics dealing with a range of things from the number of dead found the week prior to supplies that were diminishing to viable buildings and those tagged for demolition; all varying degrees of depressing. It was easy to get lost in numbers. Sometimes she had to remind herself the war was over and every step was a step forward.

“I'm sending you a nav. You can walk with me or meet at the Zakera Cafe in thirty,” she said. The Cafe was operational, though it had been repurposed and staffed by C-Sec. It still served food certain times out of the day, but it was too early to be manned right now.

“I have nowhere else to be,” he said.

They walked in silence. It wasn't ideal, but it did give her a chance to size him up. She wondered if he had armor of some sort or used a ballistic weave in his tight clothing. She noticed that he was very covered. Long sleeves and pants were a muted dark gray. He carried at least one weapon that she could see and he carried himself well. Light steps, she noticed, little to no swagger. He walked much like she had been trained; get in and get out with none the wiser, like an infiltrator.

She would guess he was under 6 feet tall, but not by much. His frame was comparable to a human and average at that, but his clothing betrayed the hard lines of the cut muscles he did have. He had the body of a lithe martial artist, or he would if he had been human. She didn't know how his body would translate, and when it came to different species looks could be deceiving. His scales were a shock where they could be seen compared to the rest of him. The violet color was the most saturated. It concentrated on the extremities of his fingers and covered boney looking flares that followed along the upper portion of his cheeks and the bottom portion of his face. The color yielded to a rich yellow gold broken by black patches. Where he didn't have scales, he had fleshy orange ridges.

“You haven't met many drell,” he stated after some time, not a hint of question in his tone.

He must have caught her furtive glances. “I haven't. Have you met many humans?”

“Few.”

The gate was pulled down over the Cafe once they made it there. She used her clearance to open it. Flotus preferred it that way, easier to log who had been where. She got yelled at when she bypassed security too often.

River decided to leave Tuan to his own devices and brought up her omnitool. She ran through a series of algorithms while waiting for the others to show.

“Damn, I was almost hopeful when you said we were meeting at the Cafe. Food sounds reasonable when you meet at a cafe, right?”

River looked up at the feminine voice. “There’ll be time to eat afterwards. I didn't expect you to make it early,” she cocked half a smile at T’Loret before returning her attention to the problem she was in the middle of.

“I was already up and around. What are you doing? Math for fun?” The asari asked.

“Math for fun,” River confirmed.

“Sometimes I wish I didn't have you pegged,” she said. Her blue eyes glanced over to acknowledge the other presence in the room. “New blood?”

River felt blood drain from her face. She forced her expression neutral while convincing herself the casual attitude was appropriate. A mantra of _forget about rank_ repeated a few times in her head. She wasn't a soldier anymore. They hadn't even started the meeting yet, and she always welcomed casualness when appropriate. It built comradery. “Yeah,” she answered, refusing to look up from her omnitool.

“That's…I didn't expect a replacement so soon,” T’Loret said softly.

River did look up at that to see the pensive look on her olive face. Jannia T’Loret had known Jorgal Qarak longer than anybody and it was one huge mystery that no one had been able to figure out. T’Loret had spent most of the time while Jorgal was on the team ignoring him and deflecting questions. River knew the asari was a few centuries old and had some kind of past. Jorgal had recognized her, had known something, but he never spilled. Maybe that meant something to T’Loret. Either way, she was quiet after that.

The next to arrive was Octavo Regis. He was always a few minutes early. The turian took one look at River, another at Tuan, and then leaned against a wall without a word. River stared at him, and if she were capable she'd be burning holes through his tan plates down to his rust colored skin, but he was already messing with his omnitool. The guy knew something, he always did. She just wondered if it was more than her.

Regis was her second, but he spent a lot of time being insufferable. His family was old blood when it came to C-Sec and he was a career man. He was around her age, a little younger at twenty five, taking his time getting true field experience until he deemed himself ready to be promoted. At least, that's how things seemed to work with these C-Sec turian families. What actually bothered her was how put upon he was having to answer to a human. The reason he was still on her team was that he _was_ that good though. He always had an opinion, a question, and a jab for her, but he knew timing. He treated Wakelam, the other human, like any other member of the team. He took River's command whether he agreed with it or not, and he genuinely cared for the work they were doing. It was hard not to respect his passion.

“Good morning,” Aubrey Wakelam greeted before taking a seat.

“‘Morning,” River said along with a couple of other murmurs from the room. She gave Wakelam a quick once over, as was second nature by now. The human biotic of the team was an L2, and suffered from it time to time. Wakelam never appreciated fuss, so River learned to be quick. “How'd you sleep?” She asked, her tone light and conversational.

“Better,” she said before her slanted eyes glanced to her side. She brushed her brown hair behind her ear to get a better look at Tuan. “Looks like today's going to be interesting.”

Adamus Tubernios was the last to saunter in. His mandibles flared in the short friendly smile he usually had for River, before lowering himself in a seat that just so happened to let him give Wakelam a pointed look without being too obvious. Tubernios had actually spent time as a field medic in his younger years, though he was every bit a capable officer now. He was better at being subtle when it came to checking up on Wakelam, and she would actually accept his help at times. He had a way about him like that.

River had found it strange at first, to see an older turian of lower rank even if Special Response had tougher standards than regular Enforcement officers. She had learned quickly, however, when it came to this team to take the peculiarities in stride.

“Now that we're all here,” River started their own briefing. She brought up a sector map of the Zakera Ward to show them and moved closer to the table everyone had congregated at. Certain areas of interest lit up red. “We've come up on the Ward Patrol rotation. Firsteam reported increased activity during their patrols. The area and nature of crimes indicate something stronger than looters and the like. We've been told to expect gang activity.”

Firsteam was the name of a six officer Special Response team lead by a salarian that went by Hilban. Ward Patrol was exactly that, patrolling the Zakera Ward. The assignment usually lasted 4 to 7 days. There would be no priority missions scheduled for them, unless there was an emergency or someone of higher rank than Lieutenant Flotus assigned one to them. Normally, such a job would be left to Enforcement officers, problem was there just wasn't enough left.

“No further details have come up about the parts we secured at 633 Block, but the mission status did change to completed two days ago if any of you missed that. Clan Jorgal on Tuchanka sent a claim for Qarak’s body, so we can expect an envoy within the week. I'll fend off people from pulling the plug on his stasis until then,” she said. There were some somber looks of understanding from her team.

“I'll see what I can do to help,” Regis said. River nodded her thanks. He wouldn't have offered if he didn't mean it, and chances were he knew someone who could alleviate the pressure. Power was being strictly regulated, but the last thing anyone needed was a diplomatic issue. C-Sec or not, they wanted to give their former teammate the respect he deserved.

On to the last topic of importance. “Everyone, I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Commander Molak Tuan,” she said while gesturing to the drell. Her statement was met with some raised eyebrows, stiff body language and weary glances. She explained her earlier meeting with their superiors, and hoped for the best. Wakelam and Tubernios accepted the explanation, but T’Loret and Regis were giving her expressions that appeared unconvinced.

Still, everyone was polite enough for introductions. River adjourned the meeting afterwards. They would all have a few hours until their patrol shift started.

T’Loret stayed a for a few minutes afterwards with questions and River did her best to placate the asari’s concerns. T’Loret wasn't thrilled about the slightest possibility that'd she'd be answering to two and wanted to know if there was any chance Regis would lose his place as second. River assured her neither would be the case. T’Loret still gave a pointed “I don't like the way this smells,” before leaving. River hoped it was nothing but bias talking and left to return to her quarters at C-Sec.

Her own apartment had been annihilated during the attack. Her personal loss was great, but not something she would have the chance to feel for maybe months to come. Luckily, she had privacy more or less. Her living situation was dormlike. Her room was her own and furniture had been provided for her use. She had precious few appliances, but she was able to bathe in her room and if she wasn't able to access outside laundry for any reason she could use her shower to clean her clothes. There was a mess inside the headquarters that she made use of, but she also had a cooler and a small induction burner in her room. She had a terminal. It was satisfactory.

It was 1000hrs and she wouldn't have to meet her team again until 1300. After getting what could possibly be the only meal she would have time to eat today (and making certain it was well rounded and high caloried, just in case), she settled at her small dining table to eat and read over Tuan’s dossier. She gave it a quick once over before confirming there were no pings of classified information before forwarding the information to her teammates. Then, she read it.

He was impressive. The drell was a biotic, which she figured he would be. He was proficient in weaponry, though not quite to Turbernios’ and Regis’ standard. That would have stood out enough, but it appeared he was also a technician. It wasn't unheard of, but she had never worked with someone so well rounded.

“Come on girl, it's too soon to be getting an inferiority complex. You haven't even seen him in action yet,” she mumbled to herself and sighed.

There was little else written other than a clean bill of health and the equipment he was sent with. She did a quick extranet search to learn more about drell physiology to answer her dumb questions like whether he was levo or not (which he was).

Later that day, a bigger part of her than she liked to admit was relieved to see Lieutenant Commander Tuan had some acclimating to do under her watch after all.

He took orders like a soldier, but his sense of teamwork was lacking. He offered no level of inherent trust to any of them. For lack of a better term he was distant, and more comfortable fulfilling a task by himself. Her assessment was worse than she thought it would be, but he wasn't down right hostile as Jorgal had a tendency to be at first, so he was still strides ahead she figured. It made her wonder though, if he was more comfortable working alone then what kind of work did he do in the Navy? It could've been he was a better leader than a follower, a problem stemming from being on the other side of the glass for too long. She could speculate later. For now she focused on managing him and her team to the best of her ability, and stepped in before anyone could get too frustrated over his lack of communication.

The patrol ended up being uneventful. It surprised her, because she had chosen a route that the reports pointed to having the most activity. She knew better than to let her guard down, but experience told her any would be criminals had probably realized they'd gained too much attention. She stuck to the planned route for the rest of their shift, but she already had ideas for changes tomorrow.

Late that night, while she was finishing up her report, Regis asked for a minute of her time. She thought he might, he hadn't had anything to say the whole day and that was very unlike him. She unlocked her door to let him in once he arrived.

He didn't wait for her to give a Yes Regis before he was at it. “I'm only halfway convinced when it comes to your overall leadership ability, but when it comes to getting people to work together you coordinate others in this stressful environment better than most,” he said.

Well that was…almost like a compliment. “Okay,” she said patiently, careful not to let the syllables roll too long on her tongue. He'd get pissy if he caught the inflection of sarcasm on her voice.

“I think you’re going to have a difficult time with this drell,” he said.

She tilted her head. “I didn't think he was that bad really, and compared to Jorgal’s first mission with us, I'd say he was pleasant,” she said.

He shook his head. “Krogan are different. Besides, all of us have worked with guys like Jorgal to know what motivates them and how to win them over. Tuan isn't a krogan,” he said and then added softly, “I'm not even sure he's all there.”

She would have thought Tuan not being a krogan would be a good thing to Regis. This was hitting her from left field. “What do you mean by that?”

“I've….heard things. You don't know a lot about drell, do you?” He asked and she gestured no. “I'm not the one to explain it, maybe you can learn more from him. Just, watch yourself, and like I said, if anyone's going to get underneath his scales it's you,” he said, “Get some rest, River.”

“You too.”

He left and she felt off balanced. Heck if she knew what _that_ had been about. She pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a long sigh, wracking her brain for something that could help in this situation. 

It came to her quickly enough. This wasn't the first time she'd felt outclassed at the prospect of the unknown. The solution wasn't exactly procedure, but in her experience it was effective.

She would figure out this alien yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS C-SEC. WE ATTEND MEETINGS, RUN NUMBERS AND HAVE POLITICS SPLASHED IN.  
> Hope you enjoyed this introductory chapter. Leave me a comment, yeah? Anything from feedback to your personal post ME: 3 headcannons.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I removed Slow Burn as a tag because I felt it wasn't 100% accurate. I'm still trying to figure out how best to describe this roller-coaster of a story and relationship, as far as tags are concerned.
> 
> Also, if you, dear reader, have played the trilogy but have not played Andromeda, I'll fill in the gaps for you now. A few paragraphs in, HUST1 (otherwise known as HUSTL) is mentioned. It’s a Crises Response group that was doing its thing before the events of Andromeda. [And here is a link showing Liam Kosta putting some of his training to good use](https://youtu.be/5SYhbLJKTd4), also alien butt. That's really all the catch up you'll need for this entire story.

“If you ask me, they've scattered. And there are plenty of places to hide,” River said. Her hand gestured a circle around the holographic schematic of the Zakera Ward her omnitool provided. SSRteam had completed three days of patrol with little to show for it.

“Except here,” she said and pointed to a small area that she felt shouldn't have been tagged red at all. The corridor didn't lead to a commercial or residential area. There was a warehouse nearby, but it was marked for demolition. That didn't seem a likely reason for the sightings.

She tried to map it in her mind. Could anything have been in the area before the attack?

“There must be something,” Tuan said, his deep flanging voice coming from behind her shoulder. He stood and watched as she sat at her desk and chewed on her thumb nail.

“You'd think so and that's bothering me, so we should figure out why it's on the map at all,” she said.

There wasn't much in terms of office space available at C-Sec due to all the repurposing, and thanks to that there wasn't much in terms of privacy if she wanted to maintain an open door policy.

She had invited Tuan to her room and office under the pretense of going over her patrol plans with him. It was the kind of briefing and planning she would normally be calling Regis over for when needed, but if Tuan was going to lead his own squad (and she be held somewhat responsible for how well he pulled it off), then it was a necessary evil that she include him instead every so often to get a feel for his own thought processes.

“Hm. A direct approach didn't show any-” River’s translator decided to have a field day with the next word of Tuan’s sentence. A few alternatives were provided, including ‘droppings’ and ‘surprises’ before it settled with ‘shit’. “That path could be worth trying,” he finished.

She did a double take at him before bringing up the translator interface on her omnitool. “I'm sorry, you're going to have to say that word again. ‘A direct approach didn't show any’ what?” She asked.

He repeated the word. “It's a softer word for feces,” he said with a straight face. That was almost too much.

She began typing. “Is it a swearword?”

“No,” he said, then added, “I suppose it isn't a word children would use.”

She settled on “crap”. It wasn't necessarily softer, but she wouldn't accidentally use it in front of a child (that was the idea anyway). It was a good enough approximation.

“I made some software changes to my translator. Instead of filling in a blank with the closest approximation for fluidity’s sake like other Common language based translators, I have the option to choose from a few statistical possibilities. It's not ideal for every situation, but I keep it on when I can,” she told him though he hadn't asked. ‘Didn't show any crap’ was a weird string of words to hear together, but there were countless examples of phrases like that in the English and Common languages. She repeated it. “It's an idiom, right?” She asked.

“That…” He paused for a beat and she saw the tiniest shift in his brow. Seeing it made her own eyebrows lift. She was beginning to think his face was naturally set harder than a turian’s despite looking closer to hers. “Could be very useful. And yes, it's an idiom. When you can't find something you're looking for or any significant sign of it.”

River smiled. “I'd be happy to share,” she said, already making a note to herself to make a file. Truth be told, he might need it more than her.

“Thank you,” he said after a few seconds. It was a behavior she noticed he repeated when he interacted with others, like he was slow on the uptake on figuring out the proper way to respond to things. The more she thought about it, the less she thought the likelihood of it being a drell thing, and the more she thought of it being a personal thing.

Speaking of sharing, now was a good time as any to make her practiced proposition. She brought her omnitool down and stood from her chair only to turn around and lean her bottom on her desk. Tuan took a step back and clasped his hands behind his back.

“Tuan, allow me to be straightforward. I have an interest in learning more about you and your people, and I can tell you without a doubt that learning about mine will help you with your work here. Whether that's with my team or your own,” she said, but saw no change in his usual blank expression. Best to continue. “Before C-Sec, I was an Alliance soldier on my home planet, Earth. Some of the work I did involved keeping relations with subsidiary groups, so I have a bit of an idea what you're going through being here and all.”

She pushed herself off her desk and took to pacing around her small room. “One of the few groups that operated alongside ali--other races, was HUST1. The group focused on response. Not too different from what we're doing now, if on a smaller scale at the time. The truth is, if not for the work I did alongside them I probably wouldn't be where I am now. But that's digressing,” she said and stopped moving. She looked him in the eye. “I learned a method that I'd like to try with you. I know that a large part of the reason you're here is diplomatic, and dealing with people different than what you're used to can be challenging. So, I want to offer you a trade. Questions In Exchange.” She explained the premise and the rules. The idea of trading information, general and personal, for items. How many questions that could be asked would depend on the rarity of said item. Any question was encouraged, even if it was thought to be offensive. And if, for some reason a taboo was truly struck, the item would be returned with the promise of no hard feelings. “Supplies are tight, but whatever interests you, I'm sure we can manage,” she said.

He was silent, long enough to make her squirm, and then River was surprised to see his brow move again in a small downward furrow. He appeared to be mulling it over. Finally, he tipped his head forward. “Alright. What I have in mind,” he said before pausing briefly with a shrug of his shoulders, “Anything that isn't a necessity during these times is a luxury, but if either of us could procure candy, or sweets, in exchange to learn…As far as games go, this isn't a bad one. I'll play along.”

River blinked. “Candy? Really?” On a list of possible items the mysterious and distant Lieutenant Commander Molak Tuan would be interested in, she hadn't expected that.

He didn't miss a beat. “You're asking a question.”

Ah. Yes. She pushed back the thought that this was starting to look like the cracks of a personality on the otherwise stone-like drell, and scanned her room. He was right about his choice being somewhat of a luxury, but so were most things. It wasn't like she could have hoped for him to have a fascination for collecting building scrap. Besides, she was pretty sure she had something that would work here in her room.

One corner was set up like a closet, with a small rail mounted on the wall for the precious few articles of clothing she still had and a locker set up for her gear and armor. She bent down to rummage through a carrying sack tossed under her hanging clothes and gave a tin a satisfying shake once she found it. Mints. Close enough.

“We can change this rule later, if needed, but for now let's say one question per flavor,” she said while standing and walking back towards him. She popped the tin open to offer him one. “These are peppermints, a true classic.” River was a fan of their iconic aesthetic, and longevity. She was pretty sure she left Earth with those mints. Did they have an expiration date? They still looked fine. “So, why candy? I would have expected pretty much anything else,” she asked while trying to suppress her amusement. She didn't know him well enough to know if he'd find her poking fun offensive.

Tuan plucked a small mint from the others. “Candy is simple, but flavors can be complex. I considered choosing knives, but the chances of finding the quality I'm interested in are slim,” he answered.

He popped the mint in his mouth and almost immediately she noticed his jaw tense. The silence stretched as it tended to with him.

Honestly, she had no idea whether that was a good or bad reaction. She played with the idea that he could be experiencing great disgust, euphoria, or even contemplating the vast size and diversity of the universe and the string of countless events that had to be set in motion to allow him to try a tiny piece of alien candy.

He looked at her and finally caught her expectant expression. “It's pungent,” he said.

It couldn't be helped, she cracked a smile. “You don't have to finish it,” she said. He did anyway.

The next day during their patrol, SSRteam made their way towards the dead-end of a corridor River found suspicious. She stopped her team at the sight of what was left of the warehouse. The area hadn't fared well, and still bore the scars the final battle had left. Eerily enough, there were Reaper ship remains. From where she stood, River could see the tendril-like arms that had been ripped apart from the rest of the ship and crashed into the warehouse, collapsing it months ago.

“Keep a look out for a minute, guys. I need to check something,” she said and holstered her pistol. Regis and Tubernios took up opposite ends, weapons still drawn.

The remains of the Reaper ship were fairly well camouflaged in the wreckage of the building. Dust had settled and it looked like the site had been left untouched. That was strange. This wasn't an area of the Citadel still barred off from the destruction, this was a building that had been tagged and flagged. Even if resources were being pulled elsewhere, the keepers hadn't the sense of priority that they knew and should have access to the warehouse. Yet, there were no obvious signs of disturbance.

River brought up her omnitool so she could scan over Hilban’s reports.

The suspect sightings were further into the corridor. The salarian had nothing telling about the warehouse, but he did note the lack of keeper presence. He had also found it odd. There was a keeper terminal in disrepair at the end of the corridor.

River took a moment to fill her team in.

“Tubernios. T’loret,” she said afterwards, “Search what you can around the warehouse. Don't go too far in. See if you can find anything that looks like it's been disturbed recently.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Turbernios acknowledged.

“You got it,” said T’Loret.

She bit her tongue before she told them to be careful. _Show a bit of trust,_ she reminded herself, _they know enough already._ She must have stared at them a moment too long because she heard the faint clearing of Regis’ throat from a few feet away. A smirk threatened the corner of her lip. There's no way he didn't pick that up from working with humans too long.

She took the rest of the team further in only to see more debris scattered around the area. And then, she saw a clue. A black scorch mark smeared the ground. “Wakelam. Tuan. Move the scrap that's covering the walls. I want to make sure nothing’s being blocked,” she said.

They both acknowledged her. Wakelam got started on the closest pile, but once she saw Tuan start to take a few steps away she spoke up again.

“It'll be less stress if you tackle those large pieces together. I want us to be thorough and check every possibility, you'll exhaust yourselves if you don't work as a team.”

“Yes, of course,” Tuan said before returning to help Wakelam.

River armed herself again and continued down the corridor with Regis. They made it to the broken keeper terminal with no issue. She brought up her omnitool to try to interface with the terminal. It wasn't built for anyone's use except the keepers so, unsurprisingly, she didn't get far at all. In fact, the only reason they suspected it non-operational was that normally the holographic keyboards were perpetual, there whether a keeper was using it or not. As far as theories went, she trusted it. She tried a few different methods to try to power it, wishing she had access to whatever codes she knew had been used to influence keeper behavior that had turned the tide of the war, as far as the Citadel was concerned. She'd have to crack her knuckles and give the encryption another try when she had some free time.

But that was neither here nor now. She gave the terminal a hard whack with her fist.

“Seriously?” Regis asked incredulously.

“You'd be surprised,” she muttered. Not like she was going to hurt it any worse. Nothing registered on her omnitool. The terminal was completely dead or beyond her. The question was how? It wasn't far of a stretch to assume bits and pieces of Reaper ships crashing nearby could be the reason, but the terminals were built to withstand such things. Their guts were internal, in areas people weren't supposed to be able to access. There was no visible damage to the terminal itself.

“River, we found something.” Wakelam’s voice cut through her thoughts on their open com.

“Alright, we’re on our way over. Tubernios. T’Loret. Stand by,” she said over com.

“10-4,” Tubernios replied.

River let out a whistle when she saw what Tuan and Wakelam had uncovered, and called the rest of the team over without a second thought.

It looked suspiciously like a keeper tunnel.

“I've always wanted to see the inside of a tunnel,” Wakelam said, “Looks like we'll all get that chance.”

“What was blocking it?” Regis asked.

“It was covered in dust, but once we flipped it all over it was obvious someone used metal beams and paneling from the warehouse to block the hole. Don't know what caused it, guess that's been moved,” Wakelam said.

This was what River had expected in the back of her mind while spending a night staring hard at the Zakera Ward schematic. It wasn't the first keeper tunnel Special Response had come across since their time cleaning up. It was from what they had all read in those reports that gave her the signs of what to look for.

“It'd be against protocol to enter,” Regis said.

River shrugged. “Yeah, we break those on the daily,” she said. Granted, usually their tasks were spelled out better than this, but the brass had to have known something. This was their longest patrol run yet, no emergency of ‘greater importance’ to steal them away. Coincidence didn't seem likely. “Besides, it's on me.”

“If there's one good thing out of all this, it's being able to cut through some of the red tape. That's why I love this team, have I told you guys that lately?” Wakelam asked with a smirk.

“Only about as much as you complain about being here,” Tubernios said. His mandibles were cocked and the jab was a light one.

So was Wakelam’s good humored “Ouch.” Special Response’s desperation for biotics caused relocations all over the Wards. Before SSRteam, Wakelam was stationed at Kithoi Ward where she worked as an Investigations officer. And although she was able to joke about it, River knew Wakelam’s whole life was still at that Ward, including her spouse.

“All right, all right guys, let's break some eggs,” River said.

“Idiom?” Tuan spoke up, earning a few looks.

“I'll explain later, let's move.” River forced a straight face.

The turians entered the tunnel first, weapons drawn.

“Dead end to the left, the tunnel follows through in the direction of the warehouse,” Regis observed.

“Convenient,” T’Loret remarked.

“I see something, could be an IED,” Tubernios said.

“Fall back you two and I'll confirm,” River said. Controlled detonations were always the preferred method of handling bombs, but this being a tunnel complicated things a bit. Once she saw it herself and the position it was in, she felt the possibility of a tunnel collapse was high should it set off. She got as close as she dared and scanned it with her omnitool to have a look at the interior components. Thankfully, it was as unsophisticated as it looked and she was easily able to fry it without getting closer.

“It's clear. Let's press on, but keep a close eye out,” she said. The team fell into place and slowly made their way forward.

A few more feet in and the tunnel widened into a proper hall. The team spotted another clue. Black scorch marks bloomed on the paneled flooring, three in all and two licked at the wall. They were evidence of explosions, controlled, spread out evenly, and of a specific size.

“Someone's been killing keepers,” T’Loret said, taking the words from River’s own racing thoughts. The terminal, the warehouse, and more proof of destroyed keepers. Looked to be sabotage to her.

“I think I heard something,” Regis said softly, “Might be activity up ahead.”

The hall narrowed as they pressed farther in, silent and careful. It didn't help that the tunnel was dim. Up ahead was either a dead end or a sharp corner. River signaled Regis to use his flashlight as he led the formation. Chances were, who or what ever they had heard had also heard them, so no reason to be strict with stealth. Better to be ready.

Corner it was. The team stopped before taking the turn, waiting on Regis’ move. Gun and flashlight before him, he checked and took two steps forward. “Hostiles!” He yelled and was able to slam his back against the wall in time to avoid the open fire that ricocheted by them. “Damn, I couldn't get a look at them.”

“The space is narrow enough that I can shield us until we get to cover,” T’Loret offered.

“That's assuming there is cover,” Wakelam said.

“I'll make a distraction if there isn't. Aim to incapacitate, not to kill!” River ordered.

They turned the corner, Regis, T’Loret, and Tubernios spearheading, River keeping a close look at surroundings just behind, and Tuan and Wakelam bringing up the rear.

At the first sign of bullets hitting T’Loret’s extended barrier, the shooters, three in all, appeared to have a change in heart. They backed a few steps before turning heel the other way.

River called out to T’Loret and she dropped her shield. Tuan and Wakelam were able to catch two of the suspects in a stasis. Regis took a shot at the last, catching a leg. The team fell upon the suspects while River had a look around to confirm they were safe in this wider room-like area. She then turned her attention to the suspects they had caught and approached them slowly.

Human. Dark clothing. Faces masked. Thin. Lanky. Oh, no.

The three of them were arrested and unmasked and River was left staring at very young male faces, one crying and twisted in pain. Teenagers, barely at that. Possibly duct rats.

She swore while bringing up her omnitool to give Flotus a call. She brought him up to speed and told him she'd be leaving Tubernios to keep an eye on the suspects while the rest of the team pushed forward through the tunnel.

“Absolutely not,” was his reply, “You don't have the clearance to be wandering around keeper tunnels.”

“Sir, there could be more further in. They're _kids_ Lieutenant, what if there's more? Or better yet, the adults who put them up to this?”

“I know you're used to being given a wide berth River, but the only way you're going to avoid a reprimand for going as far as you have when you should've alerted me to the situation _before_ entering the tunnels, is by following my command now. I'm dispatching a team to your location. You're going to sit tight and wait for their arrival. Then, you and your team are going to escort the suspects to HQ. Is that clear?”

Fuck. Fuck! She screwed it up. If there was anyone else, they'd get the time needed to make a clear escape, alert others. The operation could be set back on those orders.

“Understood,” she said, stoned face. The channel closed.

Hard eyed, she looked back to her team, half of which looked away to focus on what they should've been doing.

“Regis,” she acknowledged the turian staring back at her.

“Don't,” he said simply, a warning in his subvocals. He knew her too well.

“You can stay with Tubernios,” she said and walked forward. It was an out and the implication was for everyone.

T’Loret followed without hesitation. River knew better than to think it was out of some great loyalty to her. It was in T’Loret’s nature to solve problems and she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Being a ‘good cop’ wasn't one of her strong suits, but she was focused enough to fit in well with the team. River figured the rest would stay and didn't blame them. She was mildly surprised when Wakelam fell into step.

She decided to keep her omnitool prone while the other two women had their pistols drawn. She wished for more cover and an advantage point, but there would be no sniping in the narrow tunnels.

They were far enough along that when they heard footsteps behind them they whirled back with weapons trained, only to see Regis making his way towards them. He stopped and raised his gun and hand.

“I'm not going to let you get hurt because of a stupid decision,” was all he said and then followed at a distance that was only slightly begrudging.

Which one? She wanted to ask, but pushed the thought aside to focus. It was too late to question her judgment. She led them forward.

They encountered a fork in the tunnel, but there was a faint light flowing from one side so they veered that way.

“Come on, come on,” a quiet voice said, only carried so far by the metal paneling and shape of the tunnel. Careful steps stalked closer to the culprit.

“Hands in the air!” River shouted at a startled asari who suddenly had three guns pointed at her. The suspect’s eyes widened and she froze for half a second, fingers stilled on the keys of the omnitool she had been using. She stood in front of a closed reinforced door. “Hand off the omnitool!” River added and the asari gave a frustrated look back at the door and to them before complying and raising her hands.

Regis and T’Loret cautiously grabbed and searched the asari while Wakelam asked her a few questions. “What is your name? What were you doing?” River paid half attention, choosing to investigate the door.

There were no handles, no number pads, or anything else that looked to be interactive. The door was weighted at the bottom which pointing to it sliding up and down to open and close. The asari, refusing to answer any of Wakelam’s questions, had been messing with her omnitool when found. Was she trying to open this door? Perhaps to make an escape.

River brought up her own omnitool, but found the keeper tunnel door to be every bit unresponsive as the keeper terminal before.

“River,” Regis said, gaining her attention, he sounded somewhere between pleading and agitated, “If we go back now, you might not write off your ability to continue this investigation.”

She didn't believe it, but she gave him a nod, then eyed the asari’s omnitool he had confiscated. “Give me that,” she ordered. He tossed it to her after a moment’s hesitation. She worked quickly establishing a link between her device and the other and downloaded everything. Another risk, personally and professionally, but she had the ability to encrypt the data streaming through. She could pick at it and any potential bugs at her leisure later, when they weren't all pressed for time in an unsafe area. The harder task would be coming up with an explanation on why she decided to wipe that particular omnitool, especially if it contained useful evidence. Tampering, they could call it, if they were so inclined. “Let's go,” she said, feeling a heavy weight upon her.

The walk back to the others went smoothly enough, though their silent guest had shoved her heel in the ground enough times to earn a few nudges and a push in the right direction.

To her relief, River saw that Tubernios had done a good job of seeing to the boy who had gotten shot. He was handcuffed, as were the rest of them, but his pant leg had been torn and his wound bandaged. He was no longer crying. What River didn't see, was Tubernios himself. She looked to Tuan in question.

“He went to meet the team.” His words were vague and it didn't make sense for Tubernios to do that when she had given him an order.

It took her a minute to catch up. The three teenagers were no longer under the effects of stasis or distracted by a bullet wound. Tuan was choosing his words carefully. The operatives that Flotus sent weren't there yet, when enough time had gone by that they should be.

Tubernios, the wily bastard that he was, had actually left to buy her time.

That changed everything, but she needed to work quickly.

“Keep an eye here,” she said to Tuan and he nodded without comment on her phrasing. She herded the rest of her team and one suspect back into the tunnel a short ways despite the looks they were giving her.

She ordered Wakelam to set up a weak shield around them, all she needed was something to muffle and warp the sound a bit. Regis kept his gun pointed at the suspect’s feet. She asked T’Loret to hold the suspect’s omnitool for her while she brought up her own. She needed the extra hand so she could work quickly on covering her tracks. It earned her an eye roll but she was humored. The encryption was set so there was no putting things back the way she found it, but it wasn't beyond belief that the asari suspect could have done it herself. Anything would look better than a wiped omnitool.

Fingers flying, she spared broken glances at the suspect. “I need you to cover for us and I want your help in this investigation,” she said, there wasn't time to be anything but forward. Still, she could feel more than one pair of eyes staring holes through her.

“What?!” Blue eyes glared at her. “No, fuck off.”

Good, her words had caught the asari off guard enough to finally open her mouth.

“The right question for someone in your position is ‘What's in it for me?’ I'm looking to make an off the record deal with you,” River said.

“You do shit like this often? Good luck keeping your job if you actually take me in,” the asari threatened.

River took a few precious moments to work on the omnitool before fixing the asari with her full attention. Simply loading the information back in wasn't good enough if she didn't want to be immediately figured out. “Look, I'm sure you've noticed this already, but we've all been operating under an emergency situation for months now and that means undeniable job security. I'm not going anywhere. Sure, if I'm caught I'll get a slap on my wrist but then I'll get moved along somewhere else. You, on the other hand are going into a cell, indefinitely. They'll get around to you and your case as soon as they can, weeks, months down the line, who knows?” It was a good mixture of truth and bluff.

“You think you're scaring me? Or that I'm dumb enough to believe I'm the only person going into those cells? They don't have the resources to deal with every criminal, everyone knows that,” she said, but River saw the uncomfortable shift in her body language.

“You're right, they don't. They've been cutting deals, but the majority of those deals have involved some Illium styled indentured service geared towards the rebuilding of the Citadel. So, if you'd rather work with them instead of helping me, I'm sure they'll agree to it once the committee is able to see you. Showing interest might even get your conviction expedited. Let me tell you though, yours will be the last name to a very long list of hopefuls, but I'm sure the idea of service will look better after several weeks staring at gray walls and bars,” River said, the words were a little mocking but she kept her tone steady, monotonous. She wanted her to feel unnerved, not insulted.

“Fine! That's enough. What do you want from me? What makes you think I'd even trust you?” The asari asked, incredulously.

Talk enough and you'll get somewhere. River went back to juggling the omnitool and the asari. What she needed was cooperation and what she would promise in return was keeping the suspect away from a cell as much as possible, while working towards exoneration of whatever part the asari had in this mess. Plus, she tried to appeal to any sense of morality the woman had, because giving guns to minors was abhorrent, but she had to pull back from that line of talk once the asari started to clam up.

She asked for a name and got “Zei”.

“I don't expect you to trust me, not right away. You ever hear the phrase ‘too good to be true?’” She asked.

“I know what it means,” Zei answered.

“Yeah, well this isn't like that. It might be days before I can get to you and at any time our team could be called away to handle an unrelated issue. Please, be patient. If you work with me I'll do everything I can to help you out, whatever consequence that'll bring.”

“You expect me to turn on them, just like that?” There was no more bite to her voice, she sounded vulnerable if anything.

“If you're afraid, you'll be getting protection. If there are people you care about…you don't want to leave this to C-Sec alone. Your involvement could make a difference Zei, even if it's limited.”

That was the turning point and thank the stars for that because River was starting to stress for time. She was able to fill Zei in quickly. The story would be simple. Zei had been close enough to the room the rest of them were in that the noise she made left the team no other choice but to investigate that short distance.

Zei took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She opened her mouth to speak before closing and seemed to struggle with herself before finally saying, “You're lucky you found me before I could open that door.”

Wakelam’s shield dropped before River could follow that up with a question, but it was necessary that they get going back to where they were supposed to be.

She could hear approaching footsteps echoing softly through the tunnels as the team and suspect took their places. Just in time, they had only to wait.

Wait and worry. The likeliest of the unknown variables waiting to bite her in the ass was Lieutenant Commander Molak Tuan. If he chose to, he could incriminate not only her, but her entire team. The hard truth was, her intentions and reasoning, noble or not, should not be enough to sway a soldier.

On the other hand, it wasn't as if he had a deep seated loyalty to C-Sec. And her actions did show some crap, so to speak. He had played along when it came to what Tubernios was up to. There was hope, she thought.

She turned a searching gaze to Tuan. He was rising to his feet after giving the wounded teenager’s bandage a look over. He met her stare. His arms stayed at his sides. Her eyes held a question and she sought some kind of confirmation. A twitch one way or another to indicate something, anything.

What she got from him was a look so uncharacteristically intense it almost made her step back. His eyes, impossibly large and black, bore into her and through her.

It hit her that only then, for the first time, was he truly seeing her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who spent this whole chapter waking up! And guess who doesn't have a clue.


End file.
